The project BIOFABRIKA reflected a creative production in the form of experiments and in the context of reconnecting with nature, where completely new and sustainable material was used. The main purpose of biomaterials is to offer sustainable, creative and alternative solutions in order to preserve the environment. With an inclusive approach, experts with a local community were participating in 9 month long project and the first documentary film and catalogue was created about the activities.
Local
Serbia
Novi Sad, Vojvodina, Serbia
Mainly urban
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
Yes
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): Association of Citizens "ReAktor" Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation First name of representative: Adrienn Last name of representative: Újházi Gender: Female Nationality: Serbia If relevant, please select your other nationality: Hungary Function: Art director Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Đorđa Magaraševića 4. (individual adress) Town: Novi Sad Postal code: 21000 Country: Serbia Direct Tel:+381 64 2177414 E-mail:adrien.ujhazi@gmail.com Website:http://adriennujhazi.com/
URL:http://adriennujhazi.com Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): #bioart #adriennuujhazi
URL:https://reaktorngo.org Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): #biofabrika #reaktor
BIOFABRIKA includes the expansion of ideas and the application of alternative, sustainable production in the field of visual arts by the young artist Adrienn Újházi. She is the first person in Serbia presenting her work on the basis of the cultivated bio/plant-based material called SCOBY. The purpose of sustainable materials is to offer new solutions in order to preserve the environment from damaging materials for our environment. Within the project we took a local initiative to promote, educate and involve different diversity of people to this topic. The project started with a target group of educators and students of art high school in Novi Sad. The participants of the program were involved in inclusive lecture about sustainability, environmental damage and the urge of innovation in the aspect of design and visual arts, which afterwards included workshops, open talks and pop-up exhibition. The following activities were held at three locations. The ‘site-specific’ action on the banks of the Danube, involved cleaning the beach and holding interdisciplinary talks between the interested audience and artists in order to draw attention to the importance of recycling single-use plastic packaging and waste disposal strategies and summarizing it with an exhibition and open talk. The panel discussion brought together various experts from the fields of ecology, microbiology, biology, design, architecture and art flowed up with the pop-up exhibition of prototypes created by students on workshops. The interdisciplinary program also included the importance of pure Danube biodiversity which were presented by guest lecturers and project participants, from the point of view of their expertise, through educational content, which builds on bio materials, promoting its environmental and sustainable benefits. The following activity of the project was Roots of Nature exhibition by a local eco-designer. Summarizing the project, we made a short documentary film and a catalogue.
SUSTAINABILITY
ECOLOGY
BIOART
BIODESIGN
EDUCATION
The key objectives of the project BIOFACORY was to promote and educate people about sustainable values, which included several activities (workshops, actions, exhibitions, open conversations and panel discussions) on different locations, which included various groups of participants (students, educators, experts from the fields of economics, natural science and culture) also interested visitors and future project participants via open call. These activities based on worshiping new biomaterials, involving basic knowledge and practices about human, social, economic and environmental sustainability. With BIOFABRIKA we gained partnership with a local secondary school of design Bogdan Šuput due to qualitative implementation of sustainability and collaboration for long term. Our focus was to show fresh and innovative way of production with the aim of informing and educating students and interested professors in a form of lecture and workshop. We oriented them towards contemporary environmental problems, using new alternative (artistic) production as a wider range of creative process in their profession for the future. The workshop results (biomaterial prototypes) were presented for the visitors in a form of exhibition and involved an open lecture with demonstration for the general public, which was followed by a panel discussion with local and foreign experts discussing on the same topic. During the project we connected groups and individuals with different backgrounds and professions to spontaneously discuss and make new questions and conclusions about the environmental issue, biomaterial inventions and recycling with an initiative of the curator from Turkey. The process included the conversations which was filmed and exhibited, also it is part of the documentary film of BIOFABRIKA.
The creative project BIOFABRIKA with rich aesthetics, visual content and educational program acquired a partnership with a local gallery Šok ZaDruga (eng. Shock Cooperative). Activities such as exhibitions and group talks took place in the space offered by the gallery. Through the realization of the project, a new audience acquired on both sides, to whom they would approach and present a new angle of contemporary artistic production, innovative visualization of a beneficial and sustainable materials in the field of culture. We strove to inform the audience, about bio-degradable materials (such as SCOBY) whose application can be multiple: in culture, textile industry, environmental protection, etc. Education focuses on new visual issues that are oriented towards sustainability and the improvement of our environment through alternative artistic production. In this way, through the implementation of the project, the audience had the opportunity to be informed and educated in a more direct way, as well as to expand their creativity range for the future profession in the field of applied and fine arts. This kind of approach to the idea and its realization in our territory (Serbia) has not been realized often including other western Balkan countries. It is aimed at establishing interaction between citizens and visiting lecturers with the aim of exchanging experiences, knowledge and opinions, which go beyond the borders of our environment and have a European character.
BIOFABRIKA is a new and inclusive interdisciplinary and international project, which presents and educates wider audiences of different generations, nationalities, ages, gender etc. about environmental protection through creative, visual and alternative artistic production, and involves the creation and research of new biodegradable materials (like SCOBY). Domestic and foreign experts such as curators, artists, architects, environmentalists, microbiologists, and art agents participated in the project presenting their practice and integrating the main topic of the project to their visual and verbal presentation and discussion. The project's partner, Bogdan Šuput School of Design, took the roll of making the idea of the project more accessible to the younger and creative generation with diverse backgrounds. The lecture and workshop were designed for individuals with disabilities through visual, audio and tactile perception and experience. The initiative by international curator for an open action enabled all interested individuals and groups to apply online and join the beach cleaning in cooperation with three selected local creatives with different professional backgrounds (stage designer, eco print designer, graphics printmaker). During the action artists individuals who joined the project, worked in groups while also inviting the local community to join in and take part of the process and afterwards the open talk session. In the open action and talk sessions we also had a group of children with the teacher from Child Development Center Staza radosti (Path of Joy) to participate. The specific goals of the project include the possibility of self-initiated engagement of an individual or a larger collective through joining and creating new cooperation and steps forward towards environmental protection on the territory of Serbia, which will support and strengthen the capacity to expand the idea.
The role of citizens was very important in every segment of the BIOFABRIKA project. Through sharing information and participating in educational lectures, they actively took part in an open conversation with lecturers and moderators. Along with verbal communication, those interested were able to join the action on the banks of the Danube. In that context every individual was able to be part of the event and the BIOFABRIKA project community, which was later presented in the form of a multimedia exhibition and as a documentary film projection. The community, citizens and tourists could go through various activities, participate in the project, such as an open lecture and demonstration of bio material making, also open conversation during the panel discussion and get in contact for long term communication and future collaboration with the participants, foreign and domestic guests. The diversity of participants was wide and across all activities they were encouraged and got the chance to discover the content of the project, assess the value of the project and discuss it, also actively observe the topics and come to new potential conclusions by sharing their experiences. During the project the artistic director of BIOFABRIKA opened the door of her artistic studio for all interested audiences, where they could witness a working space of an individual who is producing in this particular field which this project is promoting.
During the implementation phase of the project, new acquaintances were made among the participants, which opened up various opportunities for the progress of the organization and future cooperation, which additionally strengthened European networks and created a foundation for the construction of new ones, such as the aforementioned mentioned international curator from Turkey, art agent from the Netherlands or bio designer from Bosnia and international audience. Summarizing the project after realization and evaluating its potential for further development the conclusion is that it’s relevant for new transdisciplinary collaborations including new experts, galleries, institutions, associations, etc. The advantage and benefit, through which the wider community indirectly received educational content during the implementation of the project, referred to familiarization with contemporary environmental issues in the field of creative practices and bioethical issues, which after implementation could be more easily examined and analyzed from the personal point of view of an interested observer. Citizens found out the basic characteristics, causes, advantages and disadvantages related to the given topic, while the initiators of the project established a new cooperation with artists, institutions and non-governmental organizations. The whole project was supported by Foundation "Novi Sad - European Capital of Culture" in partnership with Multimedia Center Led Art /Gallery Šok ZaDruga (Shock Cooperative), the Bogdan Šuput School of Design in Novi Sad, also sponsored by Coca Cola HBC Serbia and a local vegan restaurant Vege-Vegan.
The project BIOFABRIKA had a transdisciplinary approach towards knowledge fields, which contains different practical methodologies. From the main basis of the environmental issues and ecological practices, which were highlighted towards, it pursued finding a potential solution and tool in the field of culture. The methodology of the mentioned idea evolved in two horizons, which emphasizes an experimental approach and refers to a wide range of knowledge and practice within different areas of expertise. The practices we presented during the project were bio art and bio design which explored the potential of new material design in different creative ways including natural science. Chronologically, the project implemented the basic theoretical and practical parts (lectures and workshops) which afterwards added other various activities (actions, open talks, exhibitions) and possible solutions (panel discussion, presentation). The idea of the initiative bloomed during the panel discussion where the experts from microbiology-mycology and ecology discussed on the topic of environmental maintenance and interpretation of the bio materials (SCOBY), which included not only aesthetic and technological ideas, but also biological, environmental and theoretical review. Also, there was a conversation with an expert of biology and architect on the topic of transdisciplinarity, development of artificial intelligence and its use in natural sciences and design such as architecture (bio material implementation into: bio-architecture, green architecture, glass houses). The final part of the panel was reserved for topics of contemporary art market research in Europe with a focus on contemporary production such as bio-eco-sustainable art and whether there is a future and a market for this kind of art. The participants of the final phase were cultural workers and art agent from the Netherlands.
The genesis of the BIOFABRIKA project was based on a new artistic production in the form of experiments, through which the focus was set on a new biodegradable and sustainable material - SCOBY. The material was intended to replace certain elements in our life such as plastic, which as the biggest polluter of the Planet. Through open discussions, workshops for making materials, exhibitions, new biomaterials were promoted through foreign and local professionals (curator, designer, agent, microbiologist, architect etc). The alternative material is still in the research phase, and the result is the discovery of great potential for replacing textiles. Conversations with project guests were conducted in the form of interviews, lectures and open conversations, and questions were asked that include ecological and contemporary practices in an interdisciplinary form in the field of arts and design. An important factor of the project was that young creatives joined the implementation of the activities, through the partnership of the Bogdan Šuput High School of Design, which gave a unique character to the project. The connection between creative work, art and science is closely related. With our initiative to do a lecture and workshop based on sustainable material research, bio design and bio art, we directed a new method to potentially implement it in the educational system for the first time in the region, country and city. We gathered different individuals from the mentioned fields formally and non-formally to communicate, brainstorm and prove it with the implementation of the BIOFABRIKA project.
The methodology of the project BIOFABRIKA can be implemented in any country and surroundings. The main characteristics of the theoretical part would be to put an environmental question on a selected location which can be urban/rural, or it can be a different city /country with a specific ecological issue. Workshops and lectures about bio materials could be done in selected local areas like institutions, galleries, classrooms or other private and civil indoor spaces. The unique approach would be in this case to make a new possible solution - bio material, based on the natural source and biodiversity of the local surrounding. Due to this stage of practice based on theoretical knowledge and creative ideas, a curated open action could take place which would involve domestic and local cultural workers, artist, community. Finishing the whole process of collaboration with a presentation, exhibition, video projection, and discussion which summarizes the results of the initiative and making new conclusions. Due to this suggested “replicated” form, the project BIOFABRIKA would make a second and cleaner carbon footprint, a step in within transdisciplinary education and practice which promotes bio materials (bio art and bio design).
The work methodology of the BIOFABRIKA project contained different segments of activities such as actions, workshops, talks and exhibitions, which were realized in different locations. Between the artists, included individuals and local community (as well as spontaneous tourists) a curated site-specific action was held, on the banks of the Danube, which was later presented in Šok ZaDruga Gallery, with artifacts and visual documentation. The program of the BIOFABRIKA project included experts who are focusing on ecological art and other alternative and contemporary art practices that include natural and biodegradable materials like SCOBY. Bio Co-Culture, a small collective presented the process of creating materials in the form of a workshop and open conversation. The realization of the workshops took place in macro and micro edition, including in the private space of a local artist and the space of the partner, the design school Bogdan Šuput. The workshop was accompanied by an exhibition, where everyone could see the artifacts of previous experiments with the material, which have been reduced through the practice of bio-design and bio-art. After the workshops and the exhibition, a panel discussion was held with experts from other fields of science on the topic of bio materials, the development of artificial intelligence and its use in natural sciences, such as architecture and interior design. The last part of the panel included artists, curators, producers and an art agent from the Netherlands, who discussed the topic of marketing this type of creativity on the market of Serbia, the region and Europe.
The project BIOFABRIKA presents one of the main global issues and challenges which is water and land pollution, mostly with plastics and other toxins which the textile industry causes. Due to this project, we are approaching from the scratch including theoretical and practical education with and experimental approach to find usable and sustainable creative practices in the field of bio art and bio design for the sake of new bio materials as a prototype to replace the products of the polluting industries. Within a smaller local community, we are ambitious to connect and spread with other initiators with the same mission. Difference and knowledge are a strength to build something good and healthy for our environment. We are working on a small scale towards big achievements.
The general and most important part of the plan for disseminating the progress and so far results of the program is photo and video documentation of all events within the project, which also serve in the further actualization of concrete issues in the form of public presentations of the experience of implementing this project. All the collected materials were created during the execution of the program which are archived and available to interested persons for re-study on the pages of the participants and partners of the project. Expected mid-term and long-term effects and impact of the project implementation aimed an actualizing issue with a focus on environmental problems and pollution of the Danube, which goes beyond the local community itself and opens it up for further questioning of possible solutions including other European countries. With the participation of interdisciplinary representatives of various professions, including local and foreign guests, through a joint interpretation of the issues covered by the BIOFABRIKA project, a network of potential collaborations established can go beyond the scope of the project and create new collaborations for the benefit of the community for a healthier and ‘greener’ future.
The project BIOFABRIKA is the first kind of project on the Balkans which promotes and educates on the topic of sustainable and bio material production. At the moment we scratched the surface involving the local community, which lead us to find new opportunities and connections to continue with our mission with education and alternative (artistic) production. Our initiative with BIOFABRIKA we involve the sustainability aspects of development: learning about green transition, informing about about the climate crisis including dealing with eco-anxiety, developing knowledge and creative skills which overall actively involves students and teachers/professors, experts, youth organizations to research and learn for sustainability.
